Preface

"It will be a pleasure to have you as part of the student body here."

"We are quite looking forward to it, we love new experience."

As we walked down the stairs - the principal leading the way - I caught a glimpse of Dominique. She looked like she was about to pounce on the first person she sees- if the soft rumbling of her stomach and the frequent swallowing of her saliva was any indication. Often, she'd fidget in annoyance. She had good reason, I had to admit; we haven't hunted for over four weeks. All I could do in the circumstances was to give her a reassuring nod to show we were hunting soon.

"And here is the gym where we do most of our sports classes," the principle scoffed, his sophisticated voice rising to speak over the noise coming from the gym. He turned around to see if I was listening. In return I smiled as sweetly as I could, trying not to flash my teeth. The principle smiled his awkward smile back- only the corner of his pursed lips curving up.

All of a sudden I felt Clide's hand about to lift towards my shoulders. I turned around to face him just before he could touch them.

"We need to go," he murmured, his voice so low no human ears would be able to hear it. He put his arm around Dominique as if to restrain her. Then, in a loud, clear and apologetic voice, he cleared his throat and said, "Sorry, sir, but we have a concert rehearsal in two hours up in California so we must be on our way. It's been an insightful tour around our future school."

"I understand completely," the principle droned, his voice tinged with a bit of excitement. I could tell that he was trying to stop himself from doing something. Perhaps he wanted our autographs. Or perhaps he was merely looking forward to our leaving so that he could have a coffee break. You never know. "Well, off you go then. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, his voice professional-sounding. He waved us off, sending a waft of air straight in the direction of Dominique. She hissed, but it was a hiss too low for any human to detect.

Immediately, Clide turn on his heels and nearly ran to the car. His response was automatic, and I could swear he was panicking slightly, probably terrified that Dominique would pierce her razor sharp teeth into one of them human's neck, sinking her teeth in and slurping up that delicious, cool blood to quench her thirst…

"Hey," Clide suddenly slid his arm into mine, restraining me. "Don't."

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

"I'm sorry, I lost control… I just feel so… Thirsty…" I gasped, calming down. Just for a second, I had longed for human blood... To feel that cool sensation flowing into your mouth and giving that satisfying sigh of satisfaction after finishing your drink was too tempting.

"Please," Clide begged and he steered me into the car. Dominique was already in it, her eyes shut as she tried to get a grip of herself. We had borrowed Maria's 4x4, and were speeding home. Though I'd rather much go by foot to save time, I knew it'd be better to do drive.

We arrived home and dropped the car off. There was Maria, her eyebrows raised, waiting to inspect it.

"So," she said, trailing her fingers along the car's door. "Do I need to take it to the mechanic?"

"Don't worry," I replied reassuringly. "I didn't crash it."

Maria heaved a sigh of relief and nodded. "How'd it go?"

"Well," I snorted. "Dominique nearly killed our new principle."

As I said this, a shot of worry hit Maria's face. Her perfect features became all contorted and her face darkened in worry. Clearly, she was worried for her daughter. I could see she was thinking of rethinking her idea.

"Maria, don't worry. Dominique's got lots of self control. She'd never dare do something like that. Especially with me on the prowl," I giggled, trying to get Maria to relax. But, unfortunately, it wasn't working the way I had planned. "I'm bringing her hunting."

Maria stared at me for a while, her expression unchanged. She stood emotionless before sighing.

"Oh, okay, then," she replied, her voice pitched so perfectly it sounded like a chorus of angels were singing. "Do what you need, and do what you will."

Without another word, she spun around and entered the house again, her voice tinged with worry as she told Lucas what had happened.